First and Second Waves of COVID-19: A Comparative Study on the Impact of Pandemic Fear on the Mental Health of University Students in India

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Remya Lathabhavan
Author(s):  
Hacer BELEN

Epidemics and pandemics are difficult periods for the affected community, specifically in the proliferation of mental health issues. In such adverse times, factors of psychological vulnerability such as propensity to worry and low emotional stability might have a detrimental effect on the mental health of the individuals. To investigate the impact of such factors on mental health, this study examined the impacts of propensity to worry and fear of COVID-19 on anxiety depending on the individuals’ levels of emotional stability. As a means of such investigation, this study was conducted based on quantitative data, and the research sample was selected using a convenient sampling method. Participants included 304 university students (71.6% were women and 28.4% were men; MAge = 22.37 ± 3.04) and responded to the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Symptom Checklist-90 Revised, and 10-Item Personality Inventory. The moderated mediation analysis using PROCESS macro (Model 14) was performed to examine the study hypotheses. Results revealed that propensity to worry was associated with anxiety symptoms. Fear of COVID-19 mediated this link and emotional stability moderated the relationship between propensity to worry and anxiety. The findings showed that trait worry, trait emotional stability, and fear of COVID-19 are determinants of anxiety symptoms, suggesting that such factors are important in understanding these issues.


Education in today’s epidemic time is possible only through virtual learning platforms. COVID-19 has changed the mode of learning and shown the power of learning in virtual mode. In this paper a self-designed questionnaire on virtual learning was developed to analyse the impact of virtual learning on undergraduate and postgraduate university students. The self-developed questionnaire containing 25 items is tested for validity and reliability. 25 items are further segregated into 5 factors using exploratory factor analysis. These five factors are: Virtual Learning Environment; Virtual Learning and Health Related Issues; Virtual Learning and Interpersonal Issues; Virtual Learning and Technological Issues; Virtual Learning Deliverables. To have the comparative study of undergraduate and postgraduate students for the use of virtual learning platforms, one-way ANOVA is implemented. One-way ANOVA is implemented for each factor and it was found that virtual learning effectiveness increases when students move from Under graduation (UG) to Post Graduation (PG) in India.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micaela Di Consiglio ◽  
Sheila Merola ◽  
Tiziana Pascucci ◽  
Cristiano Violani ◽  
Alessandro Couyoumdjian

BACKGROUND To reduce the spread of Covid-19 the Italian government imposed a rigid lockdown and, for a whole year, it kept declaring stringent rules to curb the community spread. The pandemic had a great negative impact on general population mental health, including the one of university students. OBJECTIVE The study provides an overview about symptomatology and help-seeking behavior of university students before and during the Covid-19 pandemic and it aims to evaluate the impact of the different phases of the pandemic on students' mental health. METHODS We collected data in four time points: (1) March 2019-February 2020, (2) March-May 2020, (3) October-December 2020, (4) January 2020-March 2021. A total of 454 students have been included in the study. Students answered a socio-demographic questionnaire and a standardized questionnaire to evaluate a broad range of symptoms of psychopathology. Descriptive analyses have been conducted to explore student’s symptomatology and help-seeking behavior. Considering the significant gender-difference distribution between groups, groups comparison analysis has been conducted considering male and female separately. RESULTS Considering the total sample size, results suggest that students have experienced moderate to severe levels of depressive, obsessive-compulsive and anxiety symptomatology. About 14% of the sample met criteria for at least one mental health disorders, but most of them were not receiving mental health care. Moreover, during the lockdown, compared with other phases, female students reported worse symptoms in the following dimension: obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, paranoid ideation and psychoticism. The increasing symptomatology quickly disappeared after the lifting of the quarantine. Results showed any difference in the male groups. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support the view of a negative mental health condition of university students and indicate an increase of symptomatology during the lockdown among female students. Preventive and support strategies should be improved in the university context.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianna Loose ◽  
Alejandro Vásquez-Echeverría

The novel coronavirus has taken a catastrophic toll worldwide on physical and mental health. We focused on the psychosocial impact among students in Uruguay, a country relatively protected from the pandemic. Our study had three main aims : 1) describe in detail the impact among university students, 2) identify relationships between different dimensions and 3) highlight the factors determinant of mental distress. We designed a multi-dimensional questionnaire to investigate the perceived impact on the lives of students. The questionnaire was administered to 144 undergraduates in Uruguay online while the university was closed. 38-66% of students indicated increases in signs of anxiety, depression or sleep disturbances. Independently of other related factors, increases in substance use, impairments in social relationships, negative impacts of school closures, and personal economic worries explained 41% of variance in psychological distress. Findings are discussed in terms of policies for public health and future directions for research on mental health.


2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Wörfel ◽  
Burkhard Gusy ◽  
Katrin Lohmann ◽  
Katharina Töpritz ◽  
Dieter Kleiber

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nidal Drissi ◽  
Ayat Alhmoudi ◽  
Hana Al Nuaimi ◽  
Mahra Alkhyeli ◽  
Shaikha Alsalami ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 outbreak was first reported to the World Health Organization on December 31, 2019, and it was officially declared a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak and the safety measures taken to control it caused many psychological issues in populations worldwide, such as depression, anxiety, and stress. OBJECTIVE The objectives of this study were to assess the psychological effects of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak on university students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to investigate the students’ awareness of mobile mental health care apps as well as their attitudes toward the use of these apps. METHODS A two-part self-administered web-based questionnaire was delivered to students at United Arab Emirates University. The first part of the questionnaire assessed the mental state of the participants using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), while the second part contained questions investigating the participants’ awareness of and attitudes toward mental health care apps. Students were invited to fill out the web-based questionnaire via social media and mailing lists. RESULTS A total of 154 students participated in the survey, and the majority were female. The results of the GHQ-12 analysis showed that the students were experiencing psychological issues related to depression and anxiety as well as social dysfunction. The results also revealed a lack of awareness of mental health care apps and uncertainty regarding the use of such apps. Approximately one-third of the participants (44/154, 28.6%) suggested preferred functionalities and characteristics of mobile mental health care apps, such as affordable price, simple design, ease of use, web-based therapy, communication with others experiencing the same issues, and tracking of mental status. CONCLUSIONS Like many groups of people worldwide, university students in the UAE were psychologically affected by the lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Although apps can be useful tools for mental health care delivery, especially in circumstances such as those produced by the outbreak, the students in this study showed a lack of awareness of these apps and mixed attitudes toward them. Improving the digital health literacy of university students in the UAE by increasing their awareness of mental health care apps and the treatment methods and benefits of the apps, as well as involving students in the app creation process, may encourage students to use these tools for mental health care.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Irfan ◽  
Faizah Shahudin ◽  
Vincent J. Hooper ◽  
Waqar Akram ◽  
Rosmaiza B. Abdul Ghani

The objective of this article is to examine the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) upon university students’ anxiety level and to find the factors associated with the anxiety level in Malaysia. We collected data from 958 students from 16 different universities using an originally designed questionnaire. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 7-item (GAD-7) was used to estimate the anxiety. Then we applied the ordered logit model to calculate the odds ratios (OR) and factors associated with the anxiety level. We find that 12.3% of students were normal, whereas 30.5% were experiencing mild anxiety, 31.1% moderate anxiety, and 26.1% severe anxiety. Surprisingly, only 37.2% of students were aware of mental health support that was provided by their universities. However, age above 20 years (OR = 1.30), ethnicity Chinese (OR = 1.72), having any other disease (OR = 2.0), decreased family income (OR = 1.71), more time spent on watching COVID-19-related news (OR = 1.52), and infected relative or friends (OR = 1.62) were risk factors for anxiety among students. We conclude that the government of Malaysia should monitor the mental health of the universities’ students more closely and universities should open online mental health support clinics to avoid the adverse impacts of anxiety.


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